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GEST Songs Of Newfoundland And Labrador
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I'se the b'y that builds the boat,
I'se the b'y that sails her;
I'se the b'y that catches the fish,
And brings them home to Lizer.
Cods and rinds to cover your flake,
Cake and tea for supper;
Cod fish in the spring of the year,
Fried in maggoty butter.
I'se the b'y that builds the boat,
I'se the b'y that sails her;
I'se the b'y that catches the fish,
And brings them home to Lizer.
Hip your partner Sally Tibbo,
Hip your partner Sally Brown;
Fogo, Twillingate, Moreton's Harbour,
All around the circle.
I don't want your maggoty fish,
That's no good for winter;
I can buy as good as that,
Down in Bonavista.
I took Lizer to a dance,
As fast as she would travel;
And every step that she did take,
Was up to her knees in gravel.
Susan White, she's out of site,
Her petticoat wants a border;
Old Sam Oliver, in the dark,
He kissed her in the corner.
I'se the b'y that builds the boat,
I'se the b'y that sails her;
I'se the b'y that catches the fish,
And brings them home to Lizer.
See more songs by Great Big Sea.
Ryan's Fancy was recorded live performing I'se The Bye at The Black Knight Lounge in Halifax, Nova Scotia by Jack Hutchinson and George Taylor (An Irish Night At The Black Knight Lounge, trk#1, 1971, Marathon Music Incorporated, Scarborough, Ontario). That same variant was also independently-produced as a studio recording by Ryan's Fancy (Times To Remember, trk#1, 1973, Audat Records, Oshawa, Ontario).See more songs by Ryan's Fancy.
Dick Nolan arranged a disco variant in 1980 as I'se Da B'y (Dick Nolan's Greatest Hits Of Newfoundland, trk# A1, 1980 LP, Starpak SK-134).See more songs by Shanneyganock.
From the Encyclopedia of Music in Canada we are told that although the song may have originated in the 1870s, probably in a Newfoundland fishing village, interest in I's The B'y did not spread outside Newfoundland until after the song was heard and transcribed by two researchers interested in Newfoundland's folk traditions, Kenneth Peacock and Gerald S. Doyle. Its melody and lyrics were transmitted throughout Canada in the songbook Folk Songs of Canada by Edith Fowke and Richard Johnston (1954), relying on Peacock's transcription. Teachers and students outside Newfoundland were eager to learn about the music of the newest province, which had joined Canada a mere five years earlier, and I's the B'y quickly became a favourite of classrooms and choirs across the country